Learning How Drakarnor Offended the Goddess of Life

Not long after we left the capital, Chika regained her composure. For the first day and a half, we rode directly for Drakarnor, and she told me the story of how she first arrived in this world, in the ruins to the north of Aelirynth. Sadness tinged her voice at the start, but as she recounted her early steps at survival in the wilderness, her mood lightened.

“The house didn’t just have a cauldron, there were also scrolls left behind. Whoever owned the place must have thought that they would be back within their lifetime, because they took great pains to seal off the house and store the scrolls where they would not be exposed to much moisture or light. Unfortunately, some of the scrolls had rotted away completely, but those that survived had the most magnificent drawings. Though I couldn’t read the language, I was able to deduce much from the scrolls on herbology. Their author grouped plants with similar properties together, and because I recognized some from Earth, I learned what was safe to eat, and what wasn’t.”

“It’s a miracle those scrolls survived,” I commented. “They must have been at least three hundred years old.”

“Considering that no one in Aelirynth could read them either, I suspect they were much older.”

“Do you still have them? I would love to see what the letters looked like.”

“I had to leave them behind. Too heavy to carry with me. I was probably living among the ruins for a few months when I noticed that, no matter which direction I left from, I always encountered stone carvings and signs pointing south, so I decided to follow them, and that’s how I ended up in Aelirynth. Never expected it would be harder to survive in the city than the wilderness, but it got easier once I learned the language.”

To my surprise, I found myself nearly as interested in the stories of her life in the city as I was in learning about the ancient ruins. Perhaps I really had begun to care for her for who she is, I realized.

Our journey took a drastic detour when we ran into the army, retreating towards the capital with a convoy of vitafelars. They were extremely unhappy when I informed them that a similar convoy had likely already departed from the capital, intending to trade vitafelars to the invaders, and that they would be ordered to join it. After all, they had just spent two days fighting to keep the fruit from them, only to be told to march it all back.

Running into the army meant that the Drakarnori weren’t far behind, and Chika and I needed to take a long detour around them for our own safety. We were thus delayed in reaching our destination by nearly a week, and by the time we arrived, the surviving Drakarnori had been given vitafelars and were marching with our army to reclaim their land.

Land that was being guarded by a small detachment of the Drakarnori army, but when we explained who we were and why we had come, they eagerly allowed us within their borders to inspect their ruined farmland. Sure enough, the vitafelar orchards were nearly bare, with only a few of the hardiest fruits hanging from the trees.

Midway through our inspection, we were joined by an envoy of local nobles who introduced themselves as the country’s agricultural experts. Once the formal introductions were out of the way, Chika launched into questioning them.

“I heard you poisoned the lumirats. What did you use?”

“We didn’t poison them. We only used neem oil to keep them away from the orchards. We wouldn’t risk bringing poison anywhere near the trees, but neem oil is safe for plants. At least, we thought it was, and it worked well for a while, but then the trees began to wither.”

Recognition flashed through Chika’s eyes, but the nobles were so nervous that I don’t think they noticed.

“Neem oil is offensive to the goddess of life,” she told them. “It may be safe for plants, but the goddess will not bless trees which reek of its foul odor.”

“Pardon my rudeness, but what would a witch know of the goddess of life?” one of them asked.

“She’s a very devout witch,” I told him. “I know it sounds strange, but I have seen her worship at the temple with my own eyes. You may confer with your own priests if you require proof of her words.”

Another of the nobles stepped forward. “I’m more interested in fixing things than arguing about the gods. Can the orchard be saved?” All eyes turned to Chika.

“It will take months, maybe a year, to recover fully. The neem oil has seeped into the soil by now, and it would take even longer to transplant the mature trees or to grow new ones. If we aerate the soil and spread manure, it will help the trees to recover more quickly.”

“Aerate?”

“Poke holes in it with spikes. About this far apart.” She held up her hands to demonstrate. “And this deep.”

“But we sent the laborers away…”

Chika rolled up her sleeves. “Then we’d better get started.”

⁂

Never before had I experienced such grueling labor. Judging by the way the nobles stumbled from exhaustion, sweat lining their brows, I assume they hadn’t either. To their credit, they never complained, and they worked as fast as they could, understanding how truly dire the situation was.

A few days into our labor, thousands of Drakarnori peasants showed up, accompanied by our vitafelar convoy. The nobles and soldiers, too physically exhausted to resist, and aware what would happen if they tried, swore allegiance to the Empire. Once we explained what needed to be done, the commoners set to aerating the fields. After making short work of a job that would have taken us many days, they moved on towards the next farm.

Our jobs finished, Chika and I rested a day before heading back to the Empire. The return journey was quicker, and along the way, those returning to their homes hailed us as saviors. We smiled and returned their greetings, well aware that things would once again fall apart once the supplies dwindled.

Along an empty stretch of road, I asked Chika a question that had been weighing on my mind for days. “What’s the real reason neem oil harmed the orchard?”

“This is just speculation, but diseases are caused by tiny specks, too small to see with your eye. Neem oil destroys these specks, and there are some tree roots that feed upon disease.”

“Are you telling me that the vitafelar trees are nourished by the unholy fever?”

“Probably. They would need some way to neutralize the disease in order to consume it, so it stands to reason that the fruits contain an enzyme that dissolves the specks.”

“Is that what you use to treat your water?”

“No. If it were, I wouldn’t have answered your question. Neem oil doesn’t eliminate all the specks, otherwise there wouldn’t have been any fruit still growing. Even so, it could be just the thing to save us from this situation. It’s harmful to women and children, but if the men start drinking water treated with neem oil, it will take longer for them to become sick. We could stretch out our vitafelar supply long enough for our new territories to recover, but we would need to acquire large quantities of the oil in secret.”

“That shouldn't be difficult, but why keep it secret?”

“Because I don’t want to make any permanent changes to society. We’re going to sell it as a limited-time blessing from the goddess of life.”

“You’ll need the temple’s cooperation for something like that.”

“Luckily, you taught me how to get others to cooperate. Lord Gwendar wants a way to restore his honor, and I want to assuage my guilt. It’s a perfect trade, no? We teach him how to use the neem oil, and he pretends to receive a vision from the goddess that allows him to bless holy water. In exchange, he’ll reform the church to be more accepting of me.”

“Are you sure we can trust him to keep the secret?”

“Once he goes along with the lie, if he reveals the truth, he’ll be shunned as a fraud. Getting him to agree in the first place will be the hard part. Can I count on your help for the negotiations?”

Privately, I was disappointed that her plan would keep the status quo. I would have liked to see a world where knowledge of neem oil’s ability to fight disease was widespread, but I nevertheless agreed.

Neither of us could have anticipated just how much the negotiations would change things.